US Patent 9846899 Dynamic software licensing

A licensing service is disclosed that can be used in a virtual environment. A master license can be used by the licensing service to maintain a pool of licenses associated with a customer number. Multiple ephemeral licenses can be issued from the pool. The ephemeral licenses can have a short duration to ensure periodic renewal of the ephemeral licenses during the life of the master license. Tighter control of the licenses ensures that the ephemeral licenses are only used during the life of the master license. Additionally, autoscaling is promoted through the use of the license pool, which can adapt according to actual use.